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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Hal aint Hank and George is out -- or Cashman would have been fired. Surely George would have fired SOMEONE after failing to make the post-season. I say it's good Cashman stays; heck, I was wrong about Hughes and Kennedy as well.

The final roll call at Yankee Stadium on Sept 21, 2008. You won't catch a glimpse of Bald Vinny -- too many people crowding around and taking pictures. (Even Spike Lee was there sitting next to him, recording the moment.)

Derek Jeter takes an at-bat at Yankee Stadium during the last game ever played there. He'd been hit by a pitch recently and was in severe pain and would eventually sit out the last two games of the season. But he played this game and never got a hit. As Nannette said after the game (and I've never been prouder of her), That doesn't matter. We won the game and that's all Derek cares about. He could care less about all that personal stuff. We won the game and that's what counts.

Mariano Rivera -- perhaps the greatest closer in the history of the game -- comes to the mound in the top of the 9th as Metallica's "Enter Sandman" blasts through Yankee Stadium. It's his final trip from the bullpen at Yankee Stadium on the last game ever played there.

Derek Jeter is pulled from the game with two outs so we can cheer him one last time. Then Mariano Rivera gets the final out, the Yankees win and Frank Sinatra sings "New York, New York." All seen from Section 39, the Bleacher Creatures on September 21, 2008 -- the final game at Yankee Stadium.

Here are some great photos from Roy Groething and his son Eric. Personally, my favorite is the shot of the chipped and faded "39" above the ramp to our seats. All photos are by Roy except the only one that Nannette cares about: the shot of Derek, which Eric took. Thanks for sharing, guys.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Paul Simon's tribute in the New York Times is great. And here is Billy Crystal's essay on his memories of Yankee Stadium. You'll also find links to pieces by everyone from George Steinbrenner to Henry Kissinger there.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Well, the tour of Yankee Stadium was a lot more fun -- and law-breaking -- than I expected. Nina got kicked out for taking photos in the locker room, I had to delete (almost) all of my videos and others secretly took photos of that same locker area and got away with it.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Girardi says he expects Matsui to be a full-time DH in 2009. Matsui insisted he would get surgery and work in the off season to be available for as many roles as possible and suggested he could play infield, such as first base. Huh. If Matsui is a permanent DH, will Damon be a full-time outfielder or is he too old? Does this mean the Yankees keep Abreu? If they dump Melky and Matsui is gone and Damon is at most a part-timer, they may need two new outfielders even if they KEEP Abreu.